Me and my partner of 4 yrs have joint mortgage but verge of splitting up

[Loulou11M]

We have only been in house a year and a half and we have a 6month old son and i am currently 3 months pregnant. ( i know keeping them close) we pay half the bills each but neither of us would afford house on our own. I am in no position to get extra work as i want to keep property for sake of kids. What.. (if any) help can i get if its our own property?? I know in some circumstances help towarda rent etc but not sure as own property and dont receive any benefits. Please HELP me

[cathfromsaron]

been there, done that.

if you remain alone in the house with the kids you will get housing benefit, council tax benefit and child tax cradits at the prevailing rates. he will get screwed for child support through the CSA to offset it. it is most likely that the house will be sold and the proceeds divided when the youngest is 18. or you can get a job and buy him out when your kids are older. have you been to relate? x

[cathfromsaron]

*credits

[Loulou11M]

Not done anything yet as came on here first. Not even family know yet as wanted to be sure before people get dragged into it. Even if were joint mortgage and not married?? So i could stay in my own home?? Thought id get shoved in a council flat : (

[ummmm]

Cath....that would all depend on how much Loulou earns.

You can't say she'll be entitled to all the benefits when you don't know what her salary is.

Is housing benefit even paid on a mortgage? I know in some circumstances they will pay the interest on your mortgage.

[Loulou11M]

Thanks guys. Well i currently work 36 hours and earn about 1100 but i work this amount as partner self employed so we share childcare. If he left this would change and i would need to sort childcare on my own as he will be getting further work to get his own place. So i would either need to work less to do childcare myself or sort childcare with a nursery and work more to pay for it. I only get child benefit as me and partner before pregnancy earnt around 38000 together but i have dropped hours due to baby one.

[ummmm]

You will be entitled to child tax credit...and maybe working tax credits. You should be able to find a calculator here. If you qualify you should be able to get help with nursery fees.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/index.htm

Still not sure about the mortgage though

[cathfromsaron]

ah, i presumed you were asking about benefits because you didn't work outside the home.

if you work and have a wage, no you won't get housing or council tax benefits (which pays the interest only after a specific period but you may be able to get working tax credits, child tax ctredits and childcare portion, then pay the mortgage yourself. if its a joint mortgage, your partner will be liable for his half until/unless he signs the house over to you.

i would explore ways of keeping the relationship going, unless it has irretrievably broken down.

[ummmm]

//your partner will be liable for his half until/unless he signs the house over to you. \\

And he can't sign over the house to you if you can't afford to run it on your wages.

[pink-kittens]

" your partner will be liable for his half until/unless he signs the house over to you"

Depends, they are both liable for the full amount if one doesn't pay, it is not half and half.


Are you and your partner being amicable or id there any arguing over who pays what OP?

[Loulou11M]

The thing is if he leaves im not sure if i can even afford to work as second baby will be here april. So i may not afford to pay childcare for both. God im do stuck. Doesnt make sense, people that work cant get that much help compared to those that have all benefits.

[cathfromsaron]

obv we don't know how much she earns, so it may be a case of buying out NOW. or a judge would allow the children to be housed until 28 and THEN sell and split.

both very stressful and expensive options.

[Loulou11M]

Me and my partner respect eachother alot as children involved and hes a brill dad but the love has just gone. There has been other personal things going on in my life with someone close to me having cancer so to be honest its been the year from hell. But at the MO things are ok between us. That could change though as lots of people i know been in similar situations.

[pink-kittens]

housed until they are 28?! I assume that is a typo cath

The only way you will be able to live in your house until your children are grown is if a) your hubby keeps on paying the mortgage or b) you get a mortgage and that mortgage gets paid

Let's hope it doesn't come to that

[Andyvon]

It's not her 'hubby' Pink Kittens. Just her boyfriend - sorry 'partner'.

[pink-kittens]

well, either either really - they have a mortgage, that joins em at the hip! :)

[ummmm]

I didn't think you could get a mortgage on tax credits...

[boxtops]

Is it absolutely certain that your relationship is ended? Not that I'd advocate anyone staying together just for financial reasons... but if you really can't afford to keep the house, you will have to sell. Your OH does have an obligation to give you money for the children (but not for paying rent etc). I'd seek some legal advice -go to the CAB if nowhere else - before you make any sort of financial plans.

[ummmm]

No, they don't care once they have a mortgage....but I'm almost certain they won't take his name off if she'll be in receipt of tax credits.